"Best Friends" in all shapes, sizes and ages

Yesterday afternoon I attended a Best Friends Animal Society members meeting at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. Being a relatively new member, I was primarily just interested in getting more connected with the group and their goals, and getting a feel for the other volunteers and members in attendance . . . and of course I wanted to catch an in-person glimpse of Georgia, the Vicktory dog, who still makes me tear up on sight.

Interestingly, despite the opportunity to listen to some of the founders and staff talk about how they got started and some of the amazing stories coming out of the sanctuary lately, my favorite part of the day was the Q&A session at the end of the meeting, and two member comments in particular from that session.

The first came from this stereotypical sweet, little, old lady, who looked like she was maybe 70 or 80 years of age, who stood up to proudly assert to the audience that she had adopted three rescue pitbulls from an LA county animal shelter over the last few years and that they are the sweetest companions she's ever known . . . not to mention well-behaved at the dog park that she takes them to every day.

The second came from the opposite end of the age spectrum: A soft-spoken 10-year old girl stood up to ask John Garcia, the dog trainer, what his favorite dog to work with was, and then her grandmother stood up to tell the audience that her granddaughter asked her friends to donate to Best Friends in lieu of gifts for her recent birthday party.

I tip my hat to these ladies for so effectively disposing of certain stereotypes that I often still struggle with--delicate old women afraid of monster dogs and selfish little kids who just want their iPods--and hope to one day see these type of gals on the front page of a major magazine or newspaper, proudly demonstrating what real dog owners and their happy furry friends look like.